NEW RESIDENT

We’ve been having thunderstorms this week. We desperately need the rain for the flowers and trees, and the lightning has been spectacular some evenings, lighting up the ridges like an early 4th of July. We even had some hail one night! Not big hail, but it sure surprised us. Another surprise we got was the observance of a resident we haven’t seen before. A gigantic turtle. Now, he’s probably not new to the lake, but he’s new to us.

His shell alone looks to be about the size of a small car tire. We’d love to know how old this big guy is (he’s huge!), and what kind of turtle he is. He seems to be a very calm fellow and his movements are very slow. He s-l-o-w-l-y submerges when people are nearby. But not before he gets a good look at the paparazzi: